St. Louis Sheriff Jim Murphy, who helped lure the event here, says there will be five-thousand law enforcement officials visiting, and six-hundred vendors showcasing the latest law enforcement equipment.

Items on display will include mobile command center vans, broad band technology capable of linking regional departments, and court house security metal detectors.

St. Louis Sheriff James W. Murphy

Murphy says he will be looking at those metal detectors, after a recent test revealed weaknesses in the city’s current court house scanners.

“We had an individual come through with a gun,” Murphy said, “We had set this up to see if our people would catch it. Our machine wasn’t really able to detect that.”

Another new technology on display allows law enforcement to identify suspects by taking a close-up picture of their eyes — an iris scan.

“One of the ways we’re using that today is in the jails of America to be sure we’re releasing the right person,” said Fred Wilson, Director of Operations with the National Sheriff’s Association.

Seminars are also planned on topic ranging from “Terrorist Screening” to “Budget Killers — Eliminating Waste.”

The conference starts Friday and runs through Wednesday at the America’s Center.